


Falling Headfirst

by MissSynph (Synph)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Kidfic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:02:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synph/pseuds/MissSynph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Leilani talks about is her favorite teacher at her preschool. This is a love story in four months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. September

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny's daughter Leilani goes on at length about her new favorite person in the world (Mr. Scott!) and then Jackson decides to let his inner gossip out all over Danny's kitchen.

“Mr. Scott showed us how to tie our shoes today!”

“Mr. Scott brought his dog for us to pet.”

“Mr. Scott sang my favorite song in the world!”

Leilani Mahealani has only been in preschool for a little less than two weeks, but from the end first day, it seems as though almost every other sentence that she says starts with ‘Mr. Scott  _this_ ,’ and ‘Mr. Scott  _that’_.

It’d be annoying if Danny’s little angel wasn’t so cute about talking about her new favorite person. Danny is used to it by now anyway, the endless conversations that Leilani strikes up about her preschool teacher once she’s belted into her car seat. Hearing about someone for hours on end from the point of view of a toddler will do that to a person.

Even if he hasn’t said more than a few words to the now famous Mr. Scott, Danny has to admit that he likes the way he obviously managed to make an impression on his little girl.

*

“You should come to school with me, Daddy,” Leilani says, piping up from her seat in an old, and highly modified, high chair next to the kitchen island. “Mr. Scott wants to have a party for our class next week. You could bake.”

She waits until Danny turns away from the stove to look at her before pulling out the big guns: a truly noteworthy puppy dog pout complete with widened brown eyes. “Please, Daddy?”

Danny shrugs.

“I’m not sure if that’d be possible, Lani,” he says in the gentlest tone that he can manage with his daughter staring up at him as though she’s moments away from crying. “I have some work to do for Auntie Lydia and it might not be done by Monday.”

Leilani makes a frustrated noise and slaps her hands against the granite countertop hard enough that her little palms immediately turn red.

“But  _Daddy--_ ”

“No, Leilani,” Danny says, injecting a bit of steel into his voice. “I’m sure Mr. Scott is working hard and that the party is important, but the work I do for Auntie Lydia is what keeps you in My Little Pony figures. You don’t want that to stop do you?”

Sniffling, Leilani shakes her head.

“No, Daddy,” she says in a sullen little murmur. “But if you finish work...” Leilani trails off and then beams brightly up at Danny as though she hadn’t been headed for a serious sulk a few seconds earlier. “Can you make snickerdoodles? Or-or some cupcakes?” Danny laughs and reaches out to ruffle his little girl’s halo of dark brown curls that never quite fall in line when faced with a brush and comb.

“I’ll do you one better,” he says after Leilani’s high-pitched giggles die off into soft squeaks and she looks up at him with a happy smile on her face. “I’ll make them both tomorrow and I’ll even let you help me decorate them when they’re cool enough.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Leilani says, grinning as she kicks her legs against the seat of her high chair. “Are we gonna go take some to Auntie Lydia and Uncle Jackson? Can we?” Danny smiles right back at his little girl.

“Of course we can, sweetie,” he says as she bounces in place in her high chair. “Now let’s get you fed and ready for bed. I hope you’re hungry for chicken and pasta tonight.”

Leilani makes a happy noise and then says, “Yay,” at the very top of her lungs as she tries to wriggle forward.

“Do you want tomato sauce or pesto with your chicken, Lani?” Danny asks, casting a quick glance over the pots of simmering sauce on the stove. Nothing looks like it’s about to burn, but he doesn’t want to take any chances. When Leilani demands the tomato sauce, Danny smiles quickly and buzzes a quick kiss over her forehead that leaves her squealing and patting his hair with slightly sticky fingers.

“Good girl. Now let’s hurry up and eat so I can get you ready for bed.”

Leilani makes a scrunched up face that Danny catches in his peripheral vision and then opens her mouth to say, “But Mr. Scott--”

Gently, Danny shushes his daughter.

“Tell me after dinner. Okay?”

Leilani pouts, but settles down with a stubborn sort of look that says that Danny is going to hear an earful about her preschool teacher until the exact moment that Leilani falls asleep.

It’s going to be a long night.

*

Leilani bursts into Danny’s room early Saturday morning, slipping through the cracked-open bedroom door after knocking hard enough to wake the dead. Danny doesn’t even have time to lift his head from his pillow at the sound of her little hand knocking hard on his door. Still wearing her favorite fairy nightgown, Leilani is a vision in frothy pink lace.

Danny musters a sleepy smile for his baby and lifts his head off the pillow so that he can pretend that he’s more awake than he is.

“Morning, Lani,” Danny says, jaw cracking midway on a massive yawn.

“Daddy! Daddy!”  Leilani’s squealing greeting is ecstatic and the sound of her footsteps coming closer gets louder.

Leilani pulls herself up onto Danny’s bed with a little difficulty and burrows under the covers until he has no choice but to roll over onto his back or wind up with his daughter’s cold feet jabbing him in the side. Leilani cuddles close and rests her head on Danny’s chest, wriggling around until she gets comfortable.

Danny rubs his daughter’s back gently and then shifts so that he can kiss the top of her head.

“I know you’re awake, sweetie,” Danny says in a low voice, “but Daddy needs his sleep. You can stay in here, but you need to be quiet. Okay?”

“Okay, Daddy,” Leilani mumbles, curling her fingers into the soft cotton of Danny’s faded old lacrosse jersey.

Inevitably, Danny drifts back to sleep, but so does Leilani.

*

When Danny wakes up again, it’s to the sudden, shrill noise of the cordless phone on his nightstand ringing in his ear. He sits straight up in the bed and then does some quick thinking in order to keep Leilani from falling over. Danny settles Leilani on the other side of the bed and then grabs for the cordless without looking at the caller id screen.

“You’ve reached the Mahealani residence, this is Danny speaking. How can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can get your butt downstairs and let me in,” Jackson says (and Danny would recognize Jackson’s put out tone in an instant no matter how tired he was). “Lydia dropped me off with the twins and it’s cold outside. Apparently, she forgot that our keys to your place are on  _her_  ring.”

Danny laughs softly and then tucks the phone in between his ear and his shoulder so that he can stretch and try to uncoil from sleeping with Leilani tucked up underneath him.

“Lemme get Lani up so she doesn’t wonder where I went,” Danny says once his spine cracks with a sharp noise and his body stops feeling so tight. “Give me five minutes. Tops.”

Jackson sighs with an exaggerated air. In the background, the sound of his and Lydia’s twins chattering away becomes audible.

“Fine,” he says, “But if the twins get sick because of this, I’m telling Lydia on you.”

“Of course you will,” Danny says. “See you soon.” He hangs up before Jackson can drag him into a harmless back and forth. Then he turns to look at Leilani’s little body curled up around a small pillow. His baby girl is precious all the time, but there’s something about the way she looks when she’s fast asleep that makes Danny remember the very first time that he held her in his arms.

Danny reaches out to trail his fingers over where Leilani’s long hair has escaped her haphazard braid then he nudges his daughter gently, talking to her softly in order to wake her up.

“Wake up, Lani,” he says with a crooning note to his voice as he slips one arm underneath his daughter’s back. “Uncle Jackson’s here and so are Adele and Bruno.”

Mentioning her favorite cousins does the trick and soon Leilani is bouncing up and holding up her arms so that Danny can scoop her up and smack a kiss against her cheek. Leilani goes with a screech and loud cry of, “Your face is scratchy” and all’s well in the world.

For a little while at least.

*

When Lydia is around, Adele and Bruno are as close to angels as the two five-year-olds can get without halos hanging above their floppy red curls. They smile obediently and listen carefully to every single command from their mother’s mouth.

When it’s just Jackson however...

Things tend to get messy.

No more than five minutes after letting Jackson in with his twin terrors, something topples over in Danny’s living room. Trailing behind Jackson, Danny doesn’t see what it is at first, but when Jackson stops mid-step and sucks in a pained gasp of air, he knows it has to be something terrible.

“How much did you like that vase that Lydia and Allison got you for a housewarming gift?” Jackson asks before Danny can dart around him and see what’s going on.

Danny shrugs and then says, “Not much,” as he makes to move Jackson out of the way with a hard nudge of his broader shoulders. When he sees the living room and the vase laying on its side with flowers and water spilling out from its top to puddle around Leilani’s bare feet, Danny makes a face and then rushes over to her. There’s no sharp pottery littering the floor, but Danny is worried enough to duck down and scoop Leilani up in his arms.

“You’re not hurt are you, sweetheart?”

Leilani shakes her head and then waves at the mess on the floor.

“Nope,” she says loudly. “Bruno did it but it didn’t hurt me.” Leilani cuddles close, nestling her head underneath Danny’s chin as she looks over at where Jackson’s twins are pressed to the side of the couch with their red curls pressed together. “’m okay.”

Danny lets out a relieved breath that he hadn’t known he had been holding and then jiggles Leilani in his arms.

“I’m glad, Lani,” he says before he turns and presses a kiss to his daughter’s forehead.

When Danny turns to look at him a second later, Jackson actually  _flinches_. He frowns at his best friend and then crosses the living room until he’s standing in front of the mess of flowers on the slick tile floor.

“I’ll take care of it,” Jackson says in the resigned tone of someone used to cleaning up after little ones. “Are your cleaning supplies still in the same place, man?” Jackson doesn’t wait for an answer before he trudges off, leaving Danny to stand in the middle of the mess caused by Jackson’s children and sigh.

“Do you guys want to help me figure out what kind of cupcakes to make for the party at Lani’s school?” Danny asks the twin redheads doing their best to disappear behind the couch. “Your dad’s going to be busy cleaning for a while and I could use two extra pairs of hands in the kitchen.”

When Leilani makes a grumbling noise and pats her father’s face with her hands, Danny laughs and then corrects himself quickly with a hastily tacked on, “Three pairs of hands.”

Adele and Bruno look at each other in silence then nod in unison. Adele reaches for her brother’s hand and holds it tightly, squeezing his fingers as she looks up at Danny with curiosity gleaming in her hazel-colored eyes.

“Can we make double chocolate ones?”

Danny quickly thinks back to the ingredients in his kitchen and he checks cocoa powder off his mental list.

“We can do that,” he says with a smile a second later. “We can make a batch for you and your mom and Lani will pick something for her class.”

Bruno smiles for that, shy and sweet as he steps out from behind his older twin sister and looks up at Danny.

“Thank you, Uncle Danny,” he says with a little lisp that he’s had since the very first time he started speaking in full sentences. Then he goes back to hiding behind Adele as though they’re not used to being in Danny’s house every Saturday and Danny laughs softly.

“Let’s go,” Danny says when he hears the almost ominous sound of Jackson dragging the mop and its rolling bucket down the hallway. “Your daddy is going to need the space to clean. If you’re good, I’ll give you all some chocolate chips.”

Normally, Danny would bribe any helpers with the chance to lick the spoon, but Lydia has very strict rules about that sort of thing and Danny--

Danny is still a little afraid of his best friend’s wife.

Adele and Bruno race off to the kitchen, leaving Danny to follow behind at a sedate pace with Leilani cuddling close and breathing so softly that she might be moments away from falling back to sleep.

“Are you happy, Lani?” Danny asks as he rubs Leilani’s back.

His baby sighs happily and then nods.

“Yes, Daddy.”

Danny smiles and kisses the crown of his daughter’s head.

“Good.”

*

Leilani starts on her favorite ‘Mr. Scott’ rant halfway through picking out cookie cutters for the snickerdoodles while the first batch of peanut butter cookies are in the oven. Jackson doesn’t even bother hiding his amusement when he comes to the kitchen island in time to hear Leilani talk about how Scott must be a really good big brother.

“He probably is,” Jackson says, smirking as he dips the tip of his index finger into the half-empty bowl of batter from the peanut butter cookies. “His mom got married to the sheriff a few years back and I heard they have a huge family now.”

“You know him.” Danny says with a questioning note in his voice.

“I guess,” Jackson mutters, making a face at the thought. “He went to high school with us, but kept to his own group. You know how cliques are. He did date Lydia’s best friend when we were in our senior year, but--” Jackson jabs at Danny with one spit sticky finger. “How can  _you_  forget him? I’m pretty sure he danced with you during prom since he didn’t have ticket at the time.”

Danny has a faint memory of floppy brown hair and a crooked little smile beaming up at him, but that doesn’t mesh with the Scott McCall that has been taking care of his daughter since day one of preschool. Danny shrugs.

“Maybe,” he concedes, “But isn’t he straight?”

Jackson shakes his head and leans forward on his elbows, practically vibrating in place from the desire to get in a good gossip with someone other than his wife.

“Not in the slightest,” Jackson almost crows. “He and the sheriff’s kid were always together before he dated Allison and I heard that he and Isaac Lahey dated in college before they graduated and he came back here.”

“And just how do you know all this?” Danny asks as he gives Jackson a measuring look.

“Hey! I pay attention sometimes.”

When Danny raises his eyebrow, Jackson rolls his eyes and cracks a small smile. “Okay, okay, Lydia and Allison have been trying to play matchmaker for him and you know how those two ignore me once they’re gossiping,” he says with a soft smile on his face at the thought of his wife. “I think they’re trying to get him to go out with the PE teacher from the middle school.”

“You mean Boyd?” There’s nothing wrong with Boyd. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, but... “I’m pretty sure that he’s with Isaac now...” Or is that Erica? Danny is no slouch at picking up at gossip, but Beacon Hills sometimes has too much going on for Danny to figure out who’s with who at any given point.

Jackson makes a face at Danny.

“Really?”

When Danny nods, Jackson’s scowl suddenly turns into a smile. “That’s good then,” he announces, “You’re number two on the matchmaking list and the sooner Lydia gets Scott with someone, the sooner I can stop hearing about him all the time.”

“I’m sorry, but... What?”

“Just let Lydia know that you’re interested,” Jackson says with a pleading note to his voice. “Date him for a while and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. Lydia is happy. I’m happy. You’re--”

“Still single and trying to figure out how to date while raising a toddler,” Danny says with a bit of bite to his voice. “Jackson I  _can’t--_ ”

“Don’t tell me you really like him, Danny,” Jackson breathes with horror on his voice

“Of course I like him, he’s all Lani talks about now,” Danny barks out on instinct.

Jackson shakes his head.

“Lydia’s going to be so mad that she didn’t realize--“

“Realize what?”

“That you’re already falling for McCall without her help,” he says. “You know how she likes to be right about these things.”

Danny opens his mouth to complain, but closes it when the realization hits. Jackson is right. Jackson is so very right and that... that is honestly the strangest thing he’s had to deal with all day.

“I don’t even know him,” Danny says a moment later when he finishes wiping cookie dough off of Leilani’s chubby little fingers. “And he doesn’t know me. What makes you think that he’d even like me?”

Jackson scoffs.

“You’re  _Danny_ ,” he says as though that explains it all. “Everyone likes you. It’s your superpower. In fact, having Leilani makes it even better because everyone likes a hot single dad with a kid.” Jackson reaches for the cookie dough again only to get his hand smacked with the back of the mixing spoon. “The dude won’t know what hit him.”

“Gee, thanks.”


	2. October

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween comes to Beacon Hills. Scott spends part of the day with Danny and the unwavering attention of sixteen preschoolers focused on his guest. Later, Stiles shows up with their little sister in tow before Lydia and Allison’s attempts at matchmaking fall short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is slightly more mature than the first one and there’s actual shippy stuff + some alcohol consumption.

Some of the preschoolers in Scott McCall’s class can hardly pronounce their last names so it’s not a far stretch to assume that they won’t be able to pronounce Mahealani either.

“Say hello to Mr. Danny,” Scott says, looking around at the class of sixteen toddlers as they sit around their little tables dressed up in their Halloween costumes. “He made our treats for the Fall Party and he’s Leilani’s daddy.”

Scott claps his hand together and smiles as the quietly chattering children in his class turn their faces towards Danny’s seat in one of the few grown-up sized chairs in the room. “Let’s make him feel welcome, guys.”

While the class of small children starts cheering and clapping, Scott takes the time to check Danny out when the other man’s eyes aren’t on him.

Danny has hasn’t changed much from when they were in high school together (except for having a kid, of course). He’s still good looking, still one of the nicest guys that Scott’s ever met. Scott isn’t sure how he’s managed to miss the gossip that has to be going around Beacon Hills about whoever the lucky guy is that gets to co-parent Leilani with him.

Towering over all of the kids in their own seats (not that it’s very difficult to do _that_ ), Danny looks at home with the attention of several barely potty trained toddlers focused on him.

He has the dubious honor of being the new person in Scott’s class and every single child in the room stares at him with the single-minded focus that the little ones have when they see something interesting that isn’t food. Most of the other parents that sit in on the class get a little weirded out by it. Danny only smiles more, smiles wide enough to show the deep dimples in his cheeks, and sits back in his seat with a casual sprawl that makes Scott’s mouth dry out.

“So what do you need me to do?” Danny asks Scott once he has the little ones coloring in photocopied pages from a Halloween themed coloring book. “You look like you have everything under control here.” Danny smiles as he gestures at the class of busily working toddlers as though he’s never seen anything more amazing in his life. “No wonder Lani can’t stop talking about you when we’re home.”

Scott doesn’t hesitate to take the seat on Danny’s left side.

Their thighs press together through their jeans and Scott feels an honest-to-goodness  _spark_  zip through him at the contact. Heat warms Scott’s cheeks and he ducks his head to hide the blush, thanking every god he can think to name that he’s long overdue for a haircut. Sure his mother makes an especially disgusted face whenever she sees him with his hair pulled back in a sloppy half-tail, but when Scott needs to hide behind his hair, it works wonders.

“This is nothing,” Scott says once he can speak without stammering. He pushes his fingers through his hair, pushing up so that he can pull it back from his face with one of the ever-present rubber bands around his wrist. “They’re being good because you’re new. You should have seen them before lunch when I told them we were going to have a guest.”

One corner of Danny’s mouth quirks up in a small smile.

“They were misbehaving?” Scott bobs his head in a nod.

“Oh yeah,” he says, smiling right back. “That’s why they spent recess in here. My usual assistant had to run right home before lunch and you haven’t lived until you’ve had to break up a toddler fistfight.”

Danny laughs and claps one massive hand over Scott’s knee. He squeezes Scott’s leg as though there’s more between them than a few pickup games of high school lacrosse and Leilani’s presence in Scott’s class.

“I feel you, man,” Danny says, looking over the class and the bowed toddler heads as the scritch-scratch of sixteen toddlers coloring all over the lines with their crayons. “Every other weekend Jackson and Lydia Martin bring their kids over to play with Lani and I have to say — I’m glad that she’s an only child.”

“She’s a good kid,” Scott offers, smiling back at Danny as the other man keeps touching his leg. Every single cell in his body demands that he move; that he gets up out of his chair and walks around the class even though he can see that every single one of his kids is busy coloring art for their parents. “You’re a great job raising her. You’re a great dad.”

This time, the smile at Danny’s mouth takes on a wry note.

“I wish I had someone like you around when Lani was a baby,” Danny confesses. “It was just the two of us — and my folks dropping by at all times of the night, of course — and I had no idea what I was doing.” Danny laughs softly. “Jackson of all people had to teach me how to change a diaper.”

Scott remembers Jackson. It’s not the same way that he remembers Danny. Where Danny was actually nice to Scott and his friends, Jackson was a right pain. Scott’s memories of Danny have always been good — hazy and prone to Scott mixing them with enough of his fantasies that he almost always blushes to remember them. His memories of Jackson Martin (formerly Whittemore) on the other hand… do no such thing.

When Scott shudders at the mere thought of anything to do with Jackson, Danny notices it instantly even though he doesn’t quite get the reason behind the near-violent tremble that works through Scott’s body.

Danny squeezes Scott’s knee again and this time, he lets the firm hold linger as though he’s trying to brand Scott with the palm of his hand.

“You okay?”

Scott manages to nod his head. Pushing back the less than stellar memories of his time in high school is harder than it should be, but Scott eventually gets to the point where he can smile at Danny and have it not be a total lie.

“I’m fine,” he says, “It’s just — old memories you know? I’m good.”

It’s not entirely a lie.

Mostly, because Scott sees even less of Jackson now than he did when they were in high school and shared classes along with a lunch period. Once in a while, he and Lydia stop by the school to talk to Allison about their twins, and of course they see each other at various parties, but for the most part — they’re all adults. And it’s not like Jackson remembers that he was pretty terrible to begin with.

Scott puts a little more cheer into his smile and into his eyes and looks at Danny directly.

“I think we should get the kids up so they can do their daily exercise before we go do the parade and party,” he says as Danny continues to sit there and be so — so darn charming just by sitting there with his hand on Scott’s leg. “The kids’ll love that you’re getting up to dance with them and I’ll get a chance to clean up a bit before we head out. How’s that sound?”

One last knee squeeze comes before Danny is no longer touching Scott in anyway. He offers Scott another one of those dimple-revealing smiles and then pushes out of his chair to stand, towering above Scott in his seat.

“I should warn you, Scott,” he says, “I’m not the world’s best dancer.”

Scott clears his throat, using the time to force back the blush threatening to suffuse his face. He definitely remembers otherwise (and thinking about their high school prom gets Scott the faded memory of the Armani cologne that was Danny’s signature back when they were pretentious teenagers), but bringing that up in a class of toddlers is definitely a no go. Not because the little tykes even know what a prom is, but because those little kids gossip worse than most high seniors do.  Anything that Scott says can and most likely will make it to Beacon Hills High by the end of the day if he’s not careful.

“It’s okay,” Scott says after a few seconds of gawking at Danny behind his back. “The kids won’t care and besides, you can’t be a worse dancer than I am.” The self-deprecatory humor works as well as Scott expects it to and Danny glances down at him with a faint smile on his face.

“We’ll just see about that.”

*

By the time Scott finishes cleaning up the mess from the Halloween party and stacking the chairs so the cleaners won’t have to do it, it’s nearly four-thirty in the afternoon. Glancing down at his watch, Scott swears when he realizes the time and closes the cabinet behind his desk hard enough that the magnets holding his students’ artwork shiver and threaten to fall.

“Geez,” Scott hisses as he starts shoving books and papers into his bag. “I’m so dead. I can’t believe I forgot that it was my turn to go get Maria.” Thinking about his little sister makes Scott’s motions even jerkier, but before he can clear his desk and run to the front to where his car is parked by the school’s sign, he hears a burst of loud laughter from near the door.

Scott recognizes Stiles’ laughter instantly. How could he not considering that he’s had it directed towards him every single day for most of his life. Scott is set to whirl around and say something sharp towards his stepbrother when he hears the tinkling sounds of bells and his annoyance vanishes in a flash.

Beacon Hills has its fair share of fashion-focused kids, but only Maria Stilinski wears actual bells —in her dark hair and around her neck in a necklace that must make one hell of a noise during gym class— around town.  The eight-year-old bounces into Scott’s empty classroom with a wide smile on her round, little face and launches herself at her big brother.

“Happy Halloween, Scott!” Maria shouts from somewhere near the vicinity of Scott’s middle. “Do you like my outfit?” She squeezes Scott tightly about the waist, hugging him hard enough that his back cracks from the force of it then steps backward so that Scott can get a good look at her. Dressed in pink and gray with her favorite silver bells woven into her ponytails, Maria looks as cute as always and Scott tells her so.

When Maria beams up at Scott, he smiles right back and pats her on the head before turning back to his desk.

“Did someone get your costume for the party over at the Hale house?” Scott asks as he slings his bag up over his shoulders so that the strap cuts across the front of his chest. He reaches for Maria’s smaller hand and looks around his classroom one last time before walking towards the door where Stiles is leaning against the frame and smiling widely at them. “Or are we going to have to stop by Main Street on our way home?”

“We got it,” Maria says, nodding with a bright smile for her other older brother. “Right after he picked me up from school in the jeep, we went to the store so I could try everything on and then we paid for my stuff.” Maria releases her hold on Scott’s hand and then reaches for Stiles’ hand since he’s closer to the door. “I’m so excited!”

“This is your first time going to one of the Hale Halloween parties isn’t it,” Stiles muses as he lets Maria tow him down the hallway with Scott following them at a slower pace. “You know, the Hales have thrown the best parties in town since Scott and me were your age. You’re gonna have fun.”

Maria keeps chattering all the way outside, but when it’s time for her to get back in Stiles’ car and head home, she stops abruptly and looks up at her two brothers.

“If the Hales throw awesome parties, why aren’t you guys going with me?”

Over Maria’s head Stiles gives Scott a  _look_. It’s a look that plainly says, “I’ve spent an hour answering our little sister’s questions, so it’s your turn now” and Scott drops down into a crouch without Stiles needing to say anything aloud.

“Maria,” Scott says, using his teacher voice and hoping that it’ll actually work on the frowning little girl in front of him. “The Hales throw this party for kids. I think Stiles and I would look pretty silly in our costumes surrounded by all of you guys. Don’t you?”

“But you could chaperone —”

“We could, if Miss Allison wasn’t throwing a party for all the grown-ups that she knows.”

Marie pouts, pushing out her bottom lip in that way that makes it clear that she’s about to start whining.

“But  _Scott_ —”

“But nothing, Maria,” Scott says before the little girl can get started. “We’ll take you trick o’ treating on our way to drop you off, but we’re not going to the party with you. Lindsey Hale is going to be there. Aren’t you two best friends this week? You’ll have fun, mini me; I promise.” Scott pulls Maria in so he can kiss her forehead. “Now let Stiles take you home so I can go get  _my_  costume.”

“You promise that you guys won’t forget to come get me?”

Stiles rests one hand on top of Maria’s head.

“Of course not,” he says. “How could we forget to come take the world’s cutest werewolf out trick o’ treating?”

Stiles ignores Maria’s high-pitched complaining (“I’m not a werewolf. I’m the Big Bad Wolf. There’s a difference, you know…”) and herds her in the direction of the busted up jeep that he’s had since high school. Over his shoulder, Stiles calls out at Scott.  “Don’t forget to pick my costume up too. I’ll see you back at home.”

*

“Stop saluting me every time I walk into the room,” Scott snaps after the fifth time that Stiles greets him with a sharply executed salute on his way across the living room of their apartment to the kitchen so that he can check on the chili he’s cooking to eat for lunch for the rest of the week. “It’s not cute. It’s never been cute. Now stop before I hit you with my shield.”

Stiles snorts in response.

“Whatever you say… Cap.” Scott rolls his eyes.

“You’re just jealous because you’re the sidekick.”

“I’m not a sidekick,” Stiles huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling up at Scott for a second. “I’m the Winter Soldier.”

“Only because they don’t make Bucky costumes for grown men.” Scott laughs at the utterly offended look on Stiles’ face and moves to sit in the one worn-out blue armchair that they rescued from the basement back home. “Face it, dude: you’re always going to be my Bucky.”

“I guess it’s better than being Robin again,” Stiles mutters, shooting Scott a dirty look. “At least I get to wear pants this time.” Stiles slumps back against the back of the couch and pulls his phone out of his pocket so that he can play with it. “How the hell did you keep finding Robin costumes in my size up till we were seniors?”

“Luck I guess,” Scott says, poking his head out of the kitchen and grinning at his brother. “I’m almost done here, so make sure you’re ready to go when I am.”

Stiles leans his head back so that he can look at Scott.

“Are we taking your car or mine?”

“Mine,” Scott says. “Your jeep doesn’t have room for both of us plus Maria and Harley. At least this way, no one gets stuffed in the back of your jeep on the way home.” Scott returns to the kitchen and then pokes his head back out. “Your dad’s going to get Maria on his way home right?”

“Of course,” Stiles says. “He doesn’t think that we’ll remember her and after I had to go get her for you… Well, I don’t really blame him for it.”

Scott makes a rude face when he’s sure Stiles can’t see him doing so.

 ”Whatever. Just be ready to leave.”

*

“Did you invite everyone in town?” Looking around the crowd of people currently drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages, Scott can count at least fifteen people from their graduating class standing around the pool behind Lydia’s home alone.  “Geez, Allison, half of the people here have kids that go to our school. Do you know how hard it’s going to be to drink in front of them?”

Allison smiles and loops her arm around one of his, heedless of the way the sharp claws temporarily glued on to her nails in order to add a bit of realism to her tiger costume dig into Scott’s skin.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” she says. “And after a while, it won’t matter anyway. They’ll be drunk. You’ll be drunk. The fact that we teach their toddlers won’t be a big deal in like an hour.”

Scott glances down at Allison.

“You sure about that?”

“Of course I am,” Allison says. She starts to pull on Scott’s arm, tugging him in the direction of the house. “Come on, Scott. I have someone I want you to see.”

*

It’s Danny.

Of course it’s Danny.

Allison greets the three people in the kitchen first, flitting from Lydia and Jackson before lingering at Danny’s side. All three of them are dressed up for Halloween and Scott blinks at them in shock, not really registering the change from daily wear to Halloween.

Lydia is a witch complete with a towering black hat and a matching cat twining around her ankles and mewing for attention. She smiles when she sees Scott and steps forward so that he can kiss her on the cheek the way that she demands.

“It’s good to see you, Scott,” she says and there’s enough sincerity in her voice that Scott actually feels bad for the ten seconds that he’d decided that he wasn’t going to go earlier in the day. “I know you know Jackson, but do you remember Danny?”

Jackson is a very accurate Red Arrow (right down to the tattoos on his upper arms). He greets Scott with a terse nod of his head and a tight-lipped smile. He doesn’t stay long in the kitchen, grabbing a plate of snack foods and heading out into the rest of the house before Scott even gets to turn to Danny.

Speaking of Danny… Apparently, a town the size of Beacon Hills has several dozen comic book fans lurking under the radar. With Jackson’s Red Arrow costume, Scott’s Captain America costume, and the six different women dressed as Catwoman around the pool, it’s not like Scott  _wasn’t_  expecting to see more superheroes elsewhere.

However, Danny takes the cake.

More than that, Danny  _is_  the cake.

Dressed in skintight black spandex that is only unbroken by a blue slash that crosses his chest and sweeps down to point like an arrow down at his stomach. As Nightwing, Danny is pretty much the hottest superhero at the party. Hell, he might be the hottest person at the party.

Danny smiles -- first at Scott and then over at where Allison and Lydia are trying to pretend that they're not giggling to themselves for their attempts at matchmaking -- and then claps one hand over Scott's shoulder. His big hand feels warm through Scott's costume, but the smile makes Scott feel even warmer.

"Scott and I spent the day together in his class," Danny reveals, smiling in the face of Allison and Lydia's hopeful eagerness. "Nice costume," he says to Scott a second later while their two friends are busy muttering to each other over in one corner of the spacious kitchen. "After Nightwing, Cap's easily one of my favorite heroes." Danny's gaze drifts down over Scott's body and there's something in his eyes that Scott can't quite figure out. "You look good."

Scott's brain is still stuck in that stage where he's trying to come to terms with how much better Danny looks in the Nightwing costume than any actor possibly could. Earlier today, when Danny was a doting daddy in casual (and loose-fitting) clothes, he'd been hot enough to make Scott lose it a little. Now with him in skintight black and blue hugging every bit of muscle that Danny possesses, Scott's brain simply short circuits.

Scott can’t think.

He can’t speak.

Danny grins. Apparently, he doesn’t mind in the slightest that Scott can’t stop staring at him.

“Do you want to get a drink? Do you even drink?” The hand on Scott’s shoulder moves down to his elbow and Danny steps closer until they’re touching. Scott can feel the warmth coming from the other man’s leg through the thin material of his own suit and somehow, it makes his brain feel even fuzzier.

“Guh.”

Danny’s smile only widens.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says. He starts to lead Scott out of the kitchen, only pausing to look over his shoulder at their hosts. “It’s the least we can do considering how much trouble they went through to get us both here at the same party.”

Finally, Scott’s mouth cooperates. He pauses in the doorway, half turned so that his body faces Danny’s but he can glance over at where Lydia and Allison are trying (and failing) to look innocent.

“They do realize that Leilani has been in my class since August right? Even without Leilani in my class, sooner or later we would’ve bumped into each other around town.”

“But then they wouldn’t get to take credit for whatever happened.” The look in Danny’s eyes makes Scott smile back at him and he feels some more of his confidence return to him. “And they’d expect to hear every single detail if their matchmaking worked.”

“Ah,” Scott says. He frowns briefly before narrowing his eyes at the two women still in the kitchen. “You could’ve just told me, Allison.” She at least has the grace to look embarrassed and that goes a long way to making Scott push his annoyance at their meddling away.

Scott manages a smile for Allison and Lydia and says, “I’m just going to um… go now. If Stiles or Harley need me, I guess… Tell them I’ll be out by the pool.”

Danny makes an agreeable sound in his throat. When Scott glances over at him, there’s another one of those ridiculously attractive smiles on his face. “

I’ll take care of Scott,” Danny says, and there’s something about the promise that sends thrills down Scott’s spine. “We’ll be fine.”

*

Danny’s right.

They are fine.

They wind up tipsy and leaning on each other in the semi-private shadows of one of the cloth-covered gazebos that have been on the property since Lydia was a teenager throwing parties when her parents were away. They have the flagging remains of a six-pack of really good beer between them and (unsurprising considering how their earlier conversation had been with an audience of toddlers) plenty to talk about.

“Leilani’s a great kid,” Scott says as he watches Danny gulp down his beer with all of the focus that comes from being just drunk enough to find staring at one of his students’ fathers the most interesting thing in the world. His gaze lingers on the line of Danny’s throat and how good the guy looks drinking a beer of all things. Scott shakes his head as though that’ll get his brain and mouth back on track. “You know, Danny… You’re all she talks about in class. It’s cute.”

Tongue loosened by the alcohol, Danny seems to say the first thing that comes to mind.

“You’re cute,” he blurts out, face twisted in a truly shocked expression that flashes Scott’s mind back to their high school prom. Quickly, Danny tries to backtrack. “I mean… um… Leilani does that?”

“Of course she does,” Scott says, electing not to address Danny’s slip up in case— in case it’s just the alcohol talking. Sure, Lydia and Allison may have wanted to set them up, but that doesn’t actually mean that it’ll work out. “You’re her dad. Who else would she talk about?”

“At home,” Danny says, setting his can down with a dull clanking noise. “At home all Leilani talks about is you — what you said in class or how nice you are. I think she thinks you’re the best person in the world as far as school goes.” Danny pauses to smile at Scott again before continuing. “At first, I was a little jealous of you, but I think — I think I get why she likes you so much.

Scott blinks.

Maybe it’s the liquor— No, it’s definitely the liquor — but it feels like Danny is saying something important that Scott’s brain just can’t wrap itself around. Setting his own beer down on the table in the center of the gazebo, Scott shifts so that he can look at Danny’s face.

“You do?”

Danny nods, leaning in until there’s no doubt as to what he wants from Scott.

“Yeah, I do.”


End file.
